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First Shipment of China-Bound Raptors Departs Dearborn

Few vehicle genres are more quintessentially American than fullsize pickups, and for most of their existence, have been by and large been limited to the North American market. However, that’s about to change with the export of the 2017 Ford F-150 Raptor to China. At one time a backwater in the global auto scene, China has become the single largest new car market, and its immense and growing middle and entrepreneurial classes have a seemingly insatiable appetite for high-priced vehicles.

Although the Raptor may not be considered a “luxury” vehicle by most, its $50,000-plus starting price puts it a premium price bracket, and due to China’s hefty tariffs and taxes on imported products, expect it to fetch a substantial premium over a comparable model sold in the U.S. gray-market imports of the last-generation Raptor into China reportedly sold for more than $100,000.

The Raptor represents the first time the F-150 will be officially exported and sold in China. Ford may not be the only domestic automaker to sell a fullsize pickup in Asia’s largest market. Chevrolet has announced its intention to sell the Silverado fullsize and Canyon midsize pickups in selected markets in China. The two trucks were shown at last year’s Guangzhou Auto Show.